I’m sure you’ve read food critic Jay Rayner’s glowing review in the Guardian which sent bookings at Harborne newbie Cuubo soaring. High praise from the big man meant that chef Dan Sweet had a dream start to his pocket-sized restaurant.

When Jay visited, the dining room wasn’t the finished article, but when we popped in last month, it oozed minimal chic with creamy walls, wishbone chairs and gold details. Some reviewers have claimed the restaurant’s not finished and there’s artwork still to be hung, but we reckon it’s intentional minimalist perfection.

On that theme, they’ve kept things small in the menu department too. The wine list’s short but includes enough to satisfy – a Sicilian Rosato hit the spot – and the menu is succinct. We ate from the lunch listing (£38 for three courses). There’s a tasting option if you really want to sample the Cuubo magic (£75).

We kicked things off with onion soup. It sounds dull but was anything but – creamy, smooth and moreish with genius additions like burnt sourdough crumbs adding an intense toasted flavour as well as pine nuts and a healthy dose of chopped chives which enhanced the onion flavour. It’s wonderful and we don’t say that lightly.

Rich, unctuous pork belly with skin ranking high on the crunch scale served with bacon cream, punchy nduja oil and a zingy fennel salad was a treat. Dan’s spent time at Simpsons so we knew standards would be high, but still, we were blown away at this point.

A beautifully cooked cod fillet was served with borlotti beans, tomato, courgette, a nduja sauce packed with heat and flavour finished with herb oil impressed, as did a brilliant beef dish. Braised slowly, the meat was so tender it was falling apart wrapped in a Romaine lettuce leaf served with a deep, glossy beef sauce, sweet shallots, bacon and creamy potato straight from the top drawer.

Dessert is not my thing but the other half convinced me to order one so he could try two. He didn’t get much of a look in as a dish of chilled lemon custard with salted ricotta rice cream with little gems of pistachio, biscuit and a tang of fennel was unbelievable. The other half polished off a superbly rich chocolate delice with almond, sweet poached pear and a fresh yogurt sorbet.

I’m not sure what we expected but it wasn’t this despite having read Jay’s review. If you live in Harborne, well done you. If you don’t, it’s worth the journey. We’d travel a significant distance for food this great.